Broken Promises
by NarniaTolkienNerd
Summary: In one night the Jedi Order was wiped out. Their most powerful and beloved hero died, at the hands of Darth Vader. What really happened that horrible night? The last whisper of the last child of the Jedi Order still echoes through the halls of the decimated Temple. "I wish you could have saved us."
1. Chapter 1

_**/A.N./** DISCLAIMER: I do not own Star Was or anything it contains. That belongs to LucasFilm and Disney. This idea and how the characters and story plays out is mine, however. Another disclaimer: The cover image was edited by me, however the actual art belongs to Erik Tiemens._

 _Only rated T because of violence and darkness._

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"Tell me a story!"

Big brown eyes looked up at Bail Organa. Leia, his adopted daughter. His daughter. He could only smile at the young girl.

"What type of story, darling?" he asked as he eased himself into a nearby chair. The plush cushion felt heavenly on his tired bones. Governing a system and representing his people in the senate wore on a person in time.

She climbed up his lap, even with her adorable patterned dress clinging to her calves. "Something with heroes and battles and that sort."

Something panged in his stomach. Battles. He'd been in many.

"Of the Clone Wars." She concluded, smiling brightly at him.

He nodded and stroked her brown hair as she arranged herself in his lap.

"As you wish," he said, giving his voice the weight and air he used at a senatorial announcement of some kind. His daughter giggled.

"In the clone wars, there was a mighty warrior that stood above the rest. The 'Hero Without Fear," the holonews called him. He fought in the first full scale battle in a thousand years," Bail's voice soared in his practiced story telling voice, enveloping the child on his lap.

"And, he stood his ground in the very last battle."

Blue blaster bolts flashed past his mind's eye. Thumps like earthquakes vibrated against his feet, one for each body that fell to the ground.

"most people hear that the mighty Jedi council ordered the clone troops to attack their own temple, that the jedi knew too many secrets." He paused hearing Leia's short intake of air, "but those stories are not true. The troopers who marched into that temple were gripped with some sort of mind control."

He had known, trusted, some of those men. Bail could hardly be sure of his explanation to their betrayal. But he wanted to believe that.

"The fearless jedi knight slept in the temple that night, unaware of what would happen. He woke up to the sound of blaster fire and yelling."

"Always battle ready, he grabbed his weapon and ran out of the room. He followed the noise and his instincts. His head throbbed with the disturbances in the force. He knew something was terribly wrong."

Bail heard a quiet 'oh no" come from the girl in his lap. He would not tell her everything that happened that night. She was too young.

"The brave hero entered a large commonplace from the smaller hallways he had traveled. He saw a sight he never would have conceived of. Only something in nightmares."

Bail Organa stopped his retelling, thinking. Leia rocked back and forth on his thighs, waiting intently.


	2. Chapter 2

The Hero With No Fear saw the men he had spent the last few years of his life with, fighting side by side, defending, commanding, inside his home, the one place they were not meant to be. They had their blasters trained on the dozens of jedi in the room, adults and teens alike.

Silent men stood in white armor painted with the individual man's artistic design. What did their faces look like under their helmets?

"Stop!" He yelled. His voice ripped through the chaotic air and froze every living being in their place. The famous blue lightsaber ignited, held in the hand of the most powerful being the republic had seen in an eon.

The Hero With No Fear saw the men he had spent the last few years of his life with, fighting side by side, defending, commanding, inside his home, the one place they were not meant to be. They had their blasters trained on the dozens of jedi in the room, adults and teens alike.

Silent men stood in white armor painted with the individual man's artistic design. What did their faces look like under their helmets?

"Stop!" He yelled. His voice ripped through the chaotic air and froze every living being in their place. The famous blue lightsaber ignited, held in the hand of the most powerful being the republic had seen in an eon.

"What is the meaning of this?" He boomed, stalking deeper into the room "Stand down."

The weapons of his own men turned to him. This hero was fierce on the battle field, but he also cared for the lives of his soldiers. Rage sneaked out. They had killed jedi.

He reached out his hand and drew on his powers to pull a nearby soldier to him. The clone's blaster flew out of his hand and the jedi ripped his helmet off.

"What have you done? Why?" The mighty general asked, a storm crackling behind his blue eyes.

"Good soldiers follow orders. Good soldiers follow orders." The man repeated through gritted teeth, eyes avoiding his captor's. The same words that Tup had said when he went insane.

"Who's orders?"

"Release him, general!" A clone commander yelled, aiming his blaster pistols and the knight.

The soldier's body flew across the room into the commander, knocking both to the ground.

"Fire!" a captain yelled. Blue fire sprayed through the air. The other jedi, who had been regrouping while their attackers had been distracted, found themselves once again under assault.

"I order you to cease your fire and surrender." The general's command was somehow heard over the sounds of battle. This order was left unobeyed or acknowledged.

A Padawan desperately tried to block the blaster bolts that shot through the night air like deadly shooting stars, every word of teaching he had ever received crowding into his head at once. He gasped, trying to catch his breath, and let down his guard to his back.

A shooting star hurled towards him.

A small explosion destroyed the laser bolt as it collided with a lightsaber, alerting the Padawan with the signature sound.

His savior watched his back, blocking every attack with a swift and clean movement.

"Go to the council chambers," he directed quietly, not faltering in his sword strokes, "get the remaining younglings. I'll come when I can."

The young twi'lek Padawan only could nod and duck below some tables that had been thrown about the once clean room.


	3. Chapter 3

No matter how many clone soldiers fired the weapons they had trained their entire lives with, the same ones they had pledged to use to fight against the tyranny of the Seperatists, they could not break through the master jedi's defense. Not one even called out for their brothers as clone after clone hit the ground with a thud, faint smoke from the heat of their blasters curling around the dead man's armor. But the clone's deaths were not without successes, lightsabers fell from the hands of their creators, rolling across the blood smeared floor.

The valiant knight could sense it. The lives of his fellow jedi dwindled. So many spirits rejoining the Force. So many people he could not save.

This combat was getting him nowhere. The force pushed the smoke and debris from the air, giving everyone clear sight, all the while drawing their attention to himself.

"Which traitor sent you here? Who would be so cruel?"

His voice crackled with suppressed power, and everyone knew it. When the officers in white did not answer, the hero thrust his hand towards the commander that had talked disrespectfully to him before the fight. His fingers curled and he could hear the man chocking, even inside his helmet.

"Who is behind this?" he snarled, loosening his grip in the force on the man's neck, just enough for him to speak.

"Lord Vader. He commands this legion."

The name was unfamiliar. He stepped forward, hand still raised. "You are one of the Coruscanti guard, under commander Fox," he spoke the name like it had a bitter taste in his mouth, "the other soldiers here are of the 501st. They are _my_ men. Where is this Vader?"

The sorry man was running out of air. "He is here."

The jedi had charged out of the room before the clone fell to the ground. Force speed still charged in the air for those sensitive enough to feel it's energy.

Like a gust of wind, the warrior stopped on the edge of an observation balcony overlooking the training grounds. He and his master had spent countless hours practicing drills on those mats, in that large room. And in turn, he and his Padawan had spent countless hours doing the very same thing.

But a red glow bounced off the walls, giving such a familiar place a sinister illusion. A female togruta was thrown to the ground, her eyes clouded in death throws. The seasoned warrior flinched, but realized the woman was not the girl he had first made her out to be. No, she was on Mandalore, not Coruscant.

"Ah, the republic's greatest general," a voice greeted, "finally joining the real fight."


	4. Chapter 4

A hooded figure clothed in the Jedi Order's signature brown robe stood near a sparring ring. The hero flipped off of the balcony, landing with unignited lightsaber in hand.

"Glad I didn't miss the party," he said, eyebrow raised.

The vigilant knight tried to peer underneath the mysterious man's hood. Shadows concealed his identity. "Are you this Lord Vader who stole command of my men?"

The shadows let up just a little, enough to expose haunting yellow eyes. "They are _my_ men, foolish jedi."

A blue lightsaber ignited. "You're a sith lord. Not just some assassin with a red blade."

The two men glared at each other, contrasting weapons humming. Their standoff was broken by the forgotten togruta jedi weakly trying to summon the force to bring her lightsaber into her open palm.

The hero charged, hoping to distract the sith. He swung his blade with a powerful strike. The sith blocked it with one hand, and the other darted underneath the locked swords to deliver a strike to his opponent's ribs. He moved with force speed, catching the warrior off guard. He bent over from the jab of pain, which the sith took advantage of and flicked his blue lightsaber away. The sith grabbed the young general's jaw.

"Look," Vader said, forcing the jedi to look at the woman at their feet, "you wish to save her?"

The red lightsaber sped downwards, burying itself into the dying jedi's heart. The young battlemaster cried out along with the togruta, before she slipped into the force. He could do nothing but watch.

In a rage he elbowed Vader in the abdomen and used his off centered balance to flip the murderer over his shoulder.

He summoned his lightsaber, igniting it as soon as it touched his fingertips. The knight drove the blade downwards towards the awaiting sith body.

But there was no sith to receive the blade. The saber burnt through the floor before being twisted around in time to block Lord Vader's attack.

Vader chuckled slightly underneath his hood, small smirk contrasting the burning hatred in his yellow eyes. "You're no hero. You cannot save those who depend on you. They trust a fear ridden weakling."

The master jedi continued the duel, jaw clenched in contained rage. What does this man know of him?

"You know nothing, sith," he spat, "how dare you attack this Temple and then insult me."

Their lightsabers bounced off of each other, unaware of the Great Temple Purge raging on around them. Blue clashed against red with a hiss. The sith probed his opponent's guarded mind, sending waves of fear and worry to weaken his defenses. The warrior blinked a few times, his face tight. He could feel a cold presence, creeping between the stones of the barriers of his mind.

 _Ani. What's wrong, Ani?_

The jedi knight jumped back, shaken. He thought he heard his mother. But she was dead. He had held her as she died only three years ago. Her weight was seared into his arms.

 _I'm so proud of you._

She had waited for him to rescue her. He failed. He failed her.

Vader smirked. "You weren't strong enough to save her. Why do you think you can save the others you love?"

He took in a deep breath, brandishing his lightsaber. "Who are you? How can you reach into my mind?"

Lord Vader flipped into the air, closing the distance between the two, lightsaber swinging. It came to a stop, it's way barred by the jedi's blade. "I know you more intimately than you think," Vader whispered.

The warrior spun around, his sword spinning with him. He didn't stop to decrypt the sith's words. His mind hurt from fighting against the outstretched hand of the dark side.

"You will loose," Vader said between swings, "I am stronger. I will kill you."

The young war hero reached to the side and summoned a fallen jedi's lightsaber and ignited it. He stood defiantly before the sith lord, his signature in the force blazing. "You are only the newest in a long line of enemies," he pointed his blue blade towards his opponent, a gleam in his eyes, "and I am more than capable of defeating you."

The sith looked slightly irritated. "How can you be so certain?"

"Because I am Anakin Skywalker. I am the Chosen One."

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 ** _/A.N./_ **_Especially since its such an important chapter. Please review and tell me what you think, I'd appreciate the feedback!_


	5. Chapter 5

Vader and Anakin fought, and it was a duel unlike any before in the republic era. They matched each other in speed and skill, bodies and sabers blurred to bystanders. The duelists seemed to use the same technique, the same amount of strength, as if they had trained together. Skywalker's powerful blows were blocked by the strength of Vader.

Anakin's mind stayed besieged. He would win this fight. He would save what jedi he could. They all depended on him. Everyone had always depended on him.

But he saw his wife screaming in pain. _Help me. Ani help me. Please._ Tears of agony dripped down her pale cheeks. She was his anchor, the reason he kept fighting. He would die without her.

A pain in the Force jabbed his gut. He looked down to see a small body collapse, broken and bloodied, hit by multiple blaster bolts. He ran and skidded onto his knees.

"Ahsoka!" His flesh hand felt at her forehead and neck, feeling faint signs of life. Her brow furrowed, body tense as if still fighting.

"Master?" she croaked, forcing her blue eyes to look at him. Both Master and apprentice knew she was dying.

"Why didn't you come for me?" She asked, fear clouding her eyes.

"Wha-" Anakin breathed, mind racing for clues as to what was happening. "No, I-"

"You promised you would never let anyone hurt me," she said, tears coming to her eyes as her breaths became wheezes. "I'm dying. But-" her bright blue eyes squeezed shut as she breathed in heavily through her nose, "I don't want to leave."

"Hold on, Snips. I'll get help."

His metal hand gripped her toned shoulder. He looked frantically to his wrist commlink, but it was gone. They were alone, surrounded only by grey stone and fog. No one to save her, just like that night on Tatooine all those years ago.

"Anakin…"

Anakin's eyes darted back to his Padawan. He sensed her fear. Fear that since she had left the Order, she could not become one with the Force. That she would be lost. Abandoned. Just like what the council had done to her.

"Ahsoka, listen to me," he said, his voice, "I'll never abandon you. I won't let you go. I promise."

He closed his eyes and tried to center himself; tried with all his strength to summon his power. His hand moved to Ahsoka's forehead, and he channeled healing power into her. Why couldn't he be like Obi-Wan, able to keep people conscious or wake them up? He wished his friend where here.

Anakin sensed healing power flow from himself into his Padawan. Hope fluttered in his heart, he could do it. He could heal her. She might live.

Then the body underneath him tensed, every muscle contracting. He had to open his eyes, but he almost didn't want to.

"Anakin. You can't save me." she whispered. The silhouette of his dying mother hovered just above her paling skin. He could not save her. He could not save his mother. He would lose them all.

Ahsoka struggled to keep her eyes open, struggled to breathe. She inhaled slowly. Anakin lifted her onto his lap and raised her head, trying to give her more air. All he could whisper was please. _Please, please._

Ahsoka exhaled, then fell relaxed and still.

"No, Ahsoka! Please, stay with me. Snips," his voice became increasingly quiet, seeing the uselessness of speaking. The young woman who had become like his daughter or little sister was dead.

Through his grief Anakin heard a familiar voice in his mind, as if speaking through a wall. His bond, his force bond with Obi-Wan, hardly used since his knighting.

 _Anakin, I hope you can hear me. Something is wrong. My men tried to kill me._

 _Anakin? Please, be safe. Don't get hurt, and you better not do something to get yourself killed. You hear?_

 _I'm on my way to you. The force is filling with pain. I will see you soon._

He tried to reply but couldn't. The dark side was blocking it. Anakin held his Padawan close, hating how still and limp she was in his arms. He wished Obi-Wan was there, he desperately needed his best friend's presence.

But all he had for comfort was himself.


	6. Chapter 6

None of this could be happening. Ahsoka dead. Obi-Wan on the run. Himself kneeling on cold grey stone. Who ever was doing this was going to pay. Anakin would make sure of it. And if Padme was also in danger, hurt, or worse, nothing in the galaxy would stop him from avenging her. Even the council.

Ahsoka's eyes snapped open, causing her grieving master to flinch in surprise. Her eyes were hauntingly yellow.

"The jedi limit you," she said, but it was not her voice, "you will never keep them safe when you are bound in the council's shackles."

Anakin jerked himself from the vision. The first thing he saw was Vader's face eerily close to his, yellow orbs tearing into him and a malicious smile playing on his lips. He pushed his lightsaber forwards, his activated weapon locked against the sith's.

"How dare you enter my mind!" Anakin snarled. "How much of that was real?"

Vader smiled cruelly. "I see you enjoyed the vision. You seem to become quite attached to your friends." He picked up a rack of training sabers using the force and hurled them towards Anakin. "A weakness I happily exploited."

The jedi knight slashed the rack in half and let out a battle cry. He charged his cloaked opponent. Vader radiated hatred, allowing Anakin to feel it as it seeped into his body and fed upon his anger.

Skywalker's considerable strength and endurance started to strain, pushing to keep up with the demands of the duel. He vaguely surmised that this duel might be the harshest one yet. He had fought many a sith and assassin; but emotions worked against him, tiring him out.

The two swordsmen exchanged a few more jabs and parries, blows and blocks. Both had gleaming foreheads accented by the cyber crystal light. They were so evenly matched, it was uncanny.

Vader looked up, towards a viewing balcony and the passageways beyond. His defined jaw relaxed from its clench ever so slightly. He turned his attention to the young Skywalker once more and flourished his lightsaber as he took a few steps back.

"I hope," he feigned a respectful tone, "you have learned some things and why you must give in to me. My master and I will grant you the powers you need. And more."

Anakin breathed in controlled, but heavy breaths, glaring intensely at Lord Vader. He stepped forwards, upper body in a guarded attack position.

The hooded man thrust out his hand, stopping the jedi before his foot fell to the dirtied stone. Anakin was caught off guard, smothered in a suffocating force paralysis. Enraged, he pushed against the hold that froze his body, using both the force and his brute strength. Even with all his effort he could not break free from the sith's grasp.

"Hmm," Vader said, eyeing him with mock sympathy, "so many promises you've made. Pity they will be broken due to your stubbornness." His voice gradually turned from pity to hate.

The sith relaxed his stance, cloak draped over his broad shoulders and sandy brown hair slightly tussled underneath the hood. "If you will excuse me, I sense I have a group of younglings awaiting me," he gripped his opponent harder for the intensity. "Sadly, they hinder me from planting my feet deeper into the dark side's power."

* * *

 **Isabelle Ashmore: Good question. I actually allude to the answer of your question in the next chapter, actually. But since you asked, I'll clarify.**

 ** _This represents Anakin fighting his internal demons. Its partly inspired from a part in Matthew Stover's Revenge of the Sith novelization. I also took it from How the Empire explained the Republic's favorite hero's death._**

 ** _Vader alienated himself from Anakin. In Rebels he says "Anakin Skywalker was weak. I destroyed him."_ **

**Long reply but it was worth answering in some detail. :)**


	7. Chapter 7

Anakin struggled as Vader jumped to the viewing deck and flashed him one more penetrating gaze. The paralyzing grip he retained on the jedi prodigy started to slacken.

With cry, Anakin burst from the bonds that had held him and jumped with front flip onto the balcony. His anger and resolve gave his muscles new energy. The younglings must not be touched. They had been kept safe from the war for as long as possible, they must not die in the embrace of their lifelong home.

Anakin cut through the clones who barred his path, not stopping to see if they were his men. The part of his mind that wasn't held by fear and anger hoped that Captain Rex, domino squad, or even the entire torrent company would not fall by his lightsaber.

He arrived at the top of Tranquility Spire to hear a crackling lightsaber, along with whimpers, sobs and a high-pitched scream. He pushed open the doors to the council meeting chambers, lightsaber swinging of its own accord. It found it's way to the unguarded side of the despicable being who dared attack children.

Lord Vader dropped the child he had been choking, hand flying to his ribs as he spun around and seethed at Anakin.

"You should have stayed where I left you, jedi fool!" He growled through clenched teeth.

Younglings rushed around the sith and hid behind Master Skywalker. Anakin felt their terror radiate off of them, the horror of watching their classmates murdered and dropped to the ground. Their protector thought of his own child, his and Padme's, yet to be born. He would not let these children be slain.

"It was foolish of _you_ to attack the Jedi Temple in the first place!" Anakin retorted, swinging his lightsaber in a protective arc around the younglings.

Vader allowed himself to smirk amidst the pain in his side, "None has been powerful enough to stop me, so far."

Skywalker growled and attacked. Red bounced off of blue, but this time it was even more ferocious than before. The sith had gained power in the dark side from the murder of such innocent beings, and the jedi warrior radiated resolve and rage.

The fiercest battle in an eon raged in that council room. Every jedi could feel it, even across the temple.

Anakin fought for everything he loved, for everyone who held him together. Vader fought for everything he needed in his life. For the power to save _her_ , and the power to right the galaxy.

Vader's eyes turned an even more intense yellow, red rimming his irises. He channeled all his hate into himself with a deep inhale. Dark side energy crackled as it was sucked into the sith lord, like light into a black hole. Everyone could see the power he called onto himself, in an effort to ensure victory. They knew what would happen, but it was too late.

Anakin gasped as the blood red blade pierced his chest. The crystal's fire burned through flesh and bone, muscle and nerves. His heart spasmed, lightning strikes of hot pain pulsed with every beat. Loosened by shock and pain, his fingers released his lightsaber, the object his master had once called his life. It dropped to the ground with a resounding _clang_.

Vader leaned forwards, so Skywalker's last sight was his face. His dark hood finally slid off his head. Sandy locks bounced free, his strong jaw set. Anakin looked into Vader and saw a mirrored face, except his reflection was bathed in the dark side. In hatred.

 _I never wanted to become this monster. I don't want to be the cause of so much pain._

"You might kill me," Anakin whispered, pushing the last of the air out of his lungs, "but you can't destroy me."

Vader looked into blue eyes filled with pain. "You made too many promises. Now you will break them all."

The sith pulled the death-covered blade out of it's victim. Anakin gasped, swaying and fell to his knees. His body quivered from the collapse of his right lung and the palpitation of his heart. Breath caused his chest to scream in agony, drowning any other sound to his ears. He could hardly breathe, his body panicking at his crippled life systems. Out of all the injuries and torture he had endured in his life, this was the worst.

Anakin wanted to make all the pain end.

But he had one more thing to say. "I… I am the Chosen One." He held Vader's gaze, "and you will feel what it is like to be Anakin Skywalker. Alone, forever."

That was it.

He gave his last in his fight against the darkness within. Even his very life-breath. He had tried so hard, all his life. Now he was forced to look at what he had become in the flesh, just as his own body lost function.

Anakin let out a shuddering breath, closing his eyes. He pictured his wife. He yearned to hold her close to himself, to be in her calming presence. He wanted to place his hand on her pregnant stomach and reach out with the force to sense the shimmering light that was their child. The image of Padme's loving eyes and gentle smile engraved itself into his mind's eye.

He fell to the ground, wishing that he never lost himself, that he could be with his family, in the end.

But he was alone.

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 **Isabelle: No, Anakin did not give into Vader. You were right. I think he would have died like this in his internal struggle against his dark side. This is his tragedy. Remember the Mortis arc in CW?**

 **A few more chapters left. I love reviews. Hope I did Anakin justice. These chapters are short which makes it hard to pace big events.**

 **Love, N.T.N.**


	8. Chapter 8

_**/A.N./**_ _Warning: this chapter is quite dark. It is not graphic, however._

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Vader felt something strange happen as life left the most powerful jedi of his time. Part of Anakin stayed within his mind. He shut it out, pushed the light side presence away. He heard the last words of the dead man.

 _"Feel what it is to be Anakin Skywalker."_

The sith breathed in. No more light side. He was tugged deeper into the embrace of the darkness that had lived inside of him his entire life. He turned to the younglings who had stopped struggling to unlock the heavy doors. A young girl rushed to the fallen body of Skywalker, tears dripping down her cheeks. She gently touched the fabric next to the charred hole in his chest. Blood still pooled around the flesh the red lightsaber had burned. Her messy black hair draped over her shoulders and rested on the dark leather tunic Anakin wore. Her shaking pale hand reached to his forehead, and she closed her eyes to the tears.

Vader snorted, the girl was trying to use her pathetic healing abilities to bring her fallen hero back to life. He could almost see white tendrils of Force swirling from her forehead, gliding down her chin and following her arm, seeping into the ashen face she cradled in one hand. He decided to let her live a little longer in her misery, she would gather into him more dark side power when he would kill her.

Children shrieked as the sith lord slowly, deliberately, ended their short lives, one at a time. He breathed in darkness, fed in the despair they wept in their last moments, fortified himself against any conscience that would stop him from completing what he had to.

Vader would gain the powers he needed. Then he would go to Padme, they could raise their child. He could overpower Palpatine and the two of them could rule the galaxy and make it the way they know it should be. No council would stop him. No senate. He had the power. He could feel it rushing through his veins. Anakin was weak, Vader is supreme.

 _Feel Anakin Skywalker; alone, forever._

At last he turned to the little girl, her mind shields desperately trying to block the death surrounding her. She held Anakin's flesh hand tightly and had arranged his body in a way she knew he would have if he could have received the funeral befitting such a renowned hero. She had seen him in the halls of the temple, watched in awe as he would train his togruta padawan, and his spars with Kenobi, the Negotiator. She would pass his sleeping form in the Halls of Healing when she had observed the healers at their work. He had once even smiled at her. She had grown up looking towards him like a mythical hero.

Now she stared at her hand, coming to terms that she was incapable of healing him. For the first time in her life, she felt no comforting presence of other jedi through the Force. Her body was tense in anticipation as she felt the sith turning to her. She knew she was his last victim.

"Please, Chosen One," she whispered, "come back. We need you."

But his eyes had been closed, his heart frozen. Anakin Skywalker was dead. He failed to save them. He couldn't. The last kindness his material form could give was a small comfort to a terrified child. The Force gave her a nudge when the final stroke would fall upon her exposed back. She let out a sob and buried her head into his slightly warm shoulder. She did not care if he was dead. The young girl just needed someone, anyone, to hold onto. Her small fingers fisted the cloth of his tunic, while the other hand found its way into his sandy hair.

"I wish you could have saved us."

The last whisper of the last child of the jedi order echoed through the Force, through the halls of the burning temple. Vader stood in the council room, breathless. It was done. His closed fist clenched the hilt of his blade. At last, the jedi had fallen. He ignored the chilling sense of something hiding in the depths of his furnace heart. Something not apart of the devouring dragon-fire that consumed his emotions. It could not be the other self he had just destroyed, he assured himself.

Anakin Skywalker was ground to dust under his mental heel, dispersing in the wild winds of the dark side. Vader called upon the fire to surround and burn away the last of the Knight from inside his being. Anakin could not possibly survive. Vader had only himself. Now _he_ was the true hero with no fear.

Amid the stars in the force winking out, as the pure celestial orbs of children disappeared, the supernova that was the Chosen One collapsed into itself, burning it's own light into dust.

The last jedi master of their sacred temple fell, defending his people. He had been the last standing in the last stand. Darth Vader walked out; alone, forever.

* * *

 _ **/A.N./** This got way darker than I had originally intended. Some might be wondering how, if the split persons of Anakin and Vader were the internal fight inside Skywalker, the youngling was able to interact with him. You have to keep in mind the perception I've been telling this story in. Earlier, he had also talked to a padawan, and heard Obi-Wan's plea. See it as both what Anakin's last stand would have been, and the sort of merging of internal and material realities. They needed a savior. Their Chosen One had been their savior. What else would a child hold onto in their last moments?_

 _Feedback would be greatly appreciated! These last two chapters were the hardest to write, to create the suspense and emotion they needed to, especially with the short length of the chapters. Please tell me if I hit the mark. And sorry for the long note._

 _Thanks for reading and may the force be with you,_ _N.T.N._


	9. Chapter 9

"That is the story of how Darth Vader, the sith lord, killed the Republic's mightiest hero. That is the day the republic fell, and the empire began," Bail Organa finished his story, wrapped in memory of watching security holocameras. He could never tell Leia everything he saw, not even of the Padawan who died by the hands of clone troopers so he could live.

"I never really thought that heroes could die," Leia's small voice drew Bail's eyes down at his daughter in his lap. She was holding his hand, no doubt sensing the pain he was trying to hide.

"It makes sense, but its so sad," she continued solemnly. So smart for one so young.

"Was the story too sad?" he asked, starting to worry he had made a terrible choice in tales, "I'm sorry, darling, I should have thought it through better."

She shook her head, a few strands of brown hair swaying with her head. "'s alright, daddy. I can handle it."

He squeezed her small hand. He had thought it out, slightly. In only a few years, he and Breha would tell her about her mother and father. She already knew her mother had died, and that she was now the Organa's daughter. He did not want to tell her the full truth about her father. Of Vader. He wanted her to know her father as the savior of the republic, fighter against evil.

Padme would want that. Wouldn't she? Bail saw Padme when he saw Leia. He tried every day to give her love like his old friend had, and would wish to. But as much as the senator hated to acknowledge it, Leia and Anakin's personalities were eerily similar. She reminded him of the Anakin he had heard of and he had observed in person. The whit and temper that left Breha and himself shocked.

Nevertheless, they would raise the daughter of Padme and Skywalker, give her a whole and loving family. He could only hope Luke was loved with his adoptive parents, that Obi-Wan was still protecting him. The twins deserved to be raised surrounded by love and a complete family.

The family their parents should've been able given them.

* * *

Imperial propaganda told the people of the Republic that their beloved Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker had died defending younglings during the Great Temple Purge. He had. He lost to Vader, and in doing so lost the little Ani his mother had kissed goodbye as he left for the jedi Temple. Vader had grown within him for so many years, learning from Anakin and Obi-Wan, loving Padme, and turning his mind towards power and darkness.

 _"A young jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine before he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the jedi knights. He betrayed and murdered your father."_

 _~Obi-Wan (Ben) Kenobi to Luke about the death of his father._


End file.
